yes, I did watch the film and as a jew I was offended to the extreme. As every jew should have been.Ben Stein did an injustice to his own people as far as i'm concerned. The core of what is ethically rotten about this movie. Darwinism did not lead to Nazism in Germany. Nor does Darwinism inherently contain the seeds of Nazism.

There were many nations, such as Brazil, where Darwinism led to no political ideology. There were some such as Britain which embraced Darwinism but saw a considerable number of their population killed trying to eliminate Nazism. There were other nations, such as the Soviet Union, where Darwinism was seen as so dangerous and subversive to state sponsored dreams of social engineering that those who espoused it were killed or exiled and a complete biological fairy tale, Lysenkoism, put into classrooms and agricultural policy ultimately leading to the deaths of millions from starvation.

And there were some nations where Darwinism was greeted with glee because it seemed so compatible with the prevailing ideology of the day. In particular the United States at the turn of the 20th century where robber-baron capitalists like the Carnegies, Mellons, Sumners, Stanfords and yes, even Jack London, could not stop rattling on about how the "survival of the fittest" justified crushing unions, exploiting immigrant labor or being left unregulated to amass huge fortunes while administering monopolies.

Ben Stein apparently understands none of this. He flags Darwin but does not bother to go and stare at the busts of Adam Smith, Herbert Spencer, Ernst Haeckel, Thomas Malthus so much beloved by American proponents of survival of the fittest.

Worse yet, while frowning at Darwin’s statute in a manly fashion, Stein makes no mention of the key factors driving Nazi ideology — racism, homophobia and hatred of the mentally ill and disabled.

To lay blame for the Holocaust upon Charles Darwin is to engage in a form of Holocaust denial that should forever make Ben Stein the subject of scorn not because of his nudnik concern that evolution somehow undermines morality but because in this contemptible movie he is willing to subvert the key reason why the Holocaust took place — racism — to serve his own ideological end.

I agree - that it is wrong to lay blame on the Holocaust on Darwin. But it is also wrong to try and defend the position that Hitler was not a strict adherent to Darwinian philosophy. This is historical fact.

Eljay said:



Adolf Hitler was a Catholic. Have you read Mein Kampf? I have sir.

Cute mirror, but you gotta reduce that size. Oy Vey!

The King! Hes freaky.

People often make the claim that Adolph Hitler adhered to Atheism, Humanism or some ancient Nordic pagan mythology. None of these fanciful and wrong ideas hold. Although one of Hitler's henchmen, Alfred Rosenberg, did undertake a campaign of Nordic mythological propaganda, Hitler and most of his henchmen did not believe in it .

Many American books, television documentaries, and Sunday sermons that preach of Hitler's "evil" have eliminated Hitler's god for their Christian audiences, but one only has to read from his own writings to appreciate that Hitler's God equals the same God of the Christian Bible. Hitler held many hysterical beliefs which not only include, God and Providence but also Fate and ideological politics. He spoke, unashamedly, about God, fanaticism, idealism, dogma, and the power of propaganda. Hitler held strong faith in all his convictions. He justified his fight for the German people and against Jews by using Godly and Biblical reasoning. Indeed, one of his most revealing statements makes this quite clear:

"Hence today I believe that I am acting in accordance with the will of the Almighty Creator: by defending myself against the Jew, I am fighting for the work of the Lord."

Adolph Hitler

No, Im only asserting he was a Catholic. Knock out the blame game crap. Its counter-productive.

No, Im only asserting he was a Catholic. Knock out the blame game crap. Its counter-productive.

Eljay, that quote was taken directly from Mein Kampf which was dictated by Adolph Hitler himself. I have read the English translation.

What you are attempting to do right now is referred to as "leading the witness". I have seen this take place in court many times.

You will need to do better than that.

I cant really see honestly how Adolph Hitler was not acting directly in accordance with a Christian ideology.

I brought it up because I was under the impression that you were attempting to convince us all that Hitler was not a Christian/Catholic. You have a history of "re-writing" historical evidence on these forums. Im always on the look out for that and will correct it as necessary. You are always high on the radar screen but there are a few culprits, lets put it that way.